UPDATED: Monticello council approves second leaf pick-up day on Nov. 23

The Monticello City Council has approved another residential leaf pick-up day. Bags need to be at the curb by 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

Streets Superintendent Tom Moores provided an update on adding the second day during his city council department update Monday night.

“In our current contract with Advanced Disposal, we have two pick-ups, one in the spring and one in the fall,” Moores said. “We pick those dates months ahead of time. I’ll be contacting Advanced Disposal in the next month or two to set up a spring date. Our fall date is usually set up sometime in June.”

Moores said it’s sometimes difficult to pick the best weekend in a month for a fall collection.

“On the average, and for many years, the last weekend in October is the weekend that we’ve always picked,” Moores said. “Obviously, the last few years, fall has continued on a little bit more, and this year has been very unusual. This November might go down in history as the warmest ever.”

Moores said he contacted Advanced Disposal regarding the cost of a second leaf pick-up. “They gave me a ballpark figure of about $2,500,” Moores told the council, adding Monticello Public Works hasn’t received calls from residents requesting another pick-up.

“I’m not sure if they’ve notified the council,” Moores added. Mayor Brian Stumpf replied, “With social media the way it is, a lot of people go to ‘What’s Happening in Monticello’ and post something, hoping that one of us will respond to it. They need to be educated a little bit. The city has phone numbers. If they have a problem, they need to give us a call,” Stumpf said. “It just blows me away that social media is as active as it is [when it comes to something like this].”

Stumpf added: “None of us [on the council] can sit here all the time and look at Facebook all day long and wait for somebody to ask a question.”

Stumpf then asked Finance Director Wayne Oberg if the city had money available on short notice to do a second leaf pick-up.

Oberg replied, “I’m sure we can find the $2,500 someplace.” However, he added, “I would caution if you have a second pick-up, there might be less interested [in the future] for the first one.”

Stumpf suggested city staff add additional leaf pick-up information to the city newsletter. During discussion, Councilmember Glen Posusta suggested that city workers pick up the bags.

“Since our guys aren’t out plowing snow, why can’t they do that?” Posusta asked. “I drive around town a lot. I’m all over. I’ve seen bags out there, but not a lot. Our guys could pick up what’s there.”

Stumpf asked Moores if his department had the staffing to do an additional pick-up. “Do you have the manpower to go out on a Friday?” Stumpf said.

“Weather permitting, we could do that,” Moores said. “But you would have to put that out on social media or the city’s website.”

Posusta said city workers could pick up leaf bags that are currently in place. Moores recommended the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Council members agreed on Wednesday, Nov. 23, as a second pick-up date, and the $2,500 expenditure for the second leaf pick-up was unanimously approved.